by gabriel_sales | Sep 4, 2013
In the B2B sales world, marketing videos are becoming more and more popular as a B2B sales tactic.
While there are many different types of B2B sales videos you can make, it is good to start by considering what you want the video to do (entertain, build brand awareness, etc.). As a B2B sales and marketing outsourcing company, we have found that “headshot” videos of your top executive/s can help move prospects through the sales cycle while simultaneously making your entire sales process more efficient.
Here are three advantages to using headshot videos of your top executive/s as a B2B sales tactic:
1. It makes your prospect feel more comfortable.
Most executives are experts in one thing or another, and experts love talking to other experts to bounce ideas around and troubleshoot. Executives love talking to other executives because they share a certain type of understanding and perspective in regards to what really matters. For example, executives think about things like P&L and margins in ways that junior salesmen have not yet considered. When a prospect sees that they are in agreement with your executive’s way of thinking, you are one step closer to closing.
During your B2B sales cycle, you can offer an onDemand video of your top executive speaking about the problems you solve for your customers to facilitate that experience of understanding for your prospect in a digital format. Simply by watching a short video, your prospect feels like they have been able to pick your executive’s brain enough to speak intelligently about your product or solution.
2. You can address objections digitally.
Headshot videos of your executive are also valuable in addressing objections digitally. When selling any type of product or service, the same type of objections are likely to come up over and over again. By having your executives address these objections in onDemand videos, your prospect feels like you understand their concerns, and your salesperson doesn’t have to explain the same thing over and over again. This can be especially useful for high-level objections that require technical expertise or explanation beyond the knowledge of a junior salesman.
3. Everyone spends their time more efficiently.
The most important advantage of creating headshot videos of your executive is time efficiency. For most B2B business owners, their business is like their ‘baby’; they love it and could talk about it all day and night. Unfortunately, that is not an effective B2B sales tactic as your executive’s time is expensive and could be spent better elsewhere. By filming your executive’s pitch and sharing it with prospects digitally, your executive can instead have a one-to-many conversation—saving huge amounts of valuable time.
Using a marketing automation platform, these type of executive headshot videos can also make your entire sales process run more smoothly. When you send or share your videos with prospects, your marketing automation platform will tell you which prospects watched what videos. This way, you will know where each prospect is at in terms of discovery and education, so you know when to bring in the executive to help with the close. This saves both your executive and your salesmen from wasting time in meetings with prospects who are not educated or not looking to buy yet.
In summary, headshot videos of your executive can be extremely useful for your prospects, your executives and your salespeople. Your prospects love them because they get high-level education from someone who shares their business perspective. Your executives love them because they no longer have to give the same pitch or address the same objections over and over again. Finally, your salespeople love them because they help push prospects further along the sales cycle while also giving visibility into when to bring in the executive to close.
If you would like more information on using video for B2B marketing, click here. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Sep 3, 2013
As a B2B sales tactic, email marketing can still be a highly effective strategy. However, there are good ways and bad ways to send B2B sales emails and things you can do to make your email content marketing more effective. This blog suggests the advantages of sending your B2B sales emails with marketing content from a “Marketing Team/Director.”
Less Sales-y=Less Threatening
Do you remember walking into the dealership to buy your first car and dreading the moment the car salesman spotted you? The dread you felt comes from a widespread and deep-seated dislike of being sold to. We simply don’t like experiences where we feel like we have no control of the outcome.
By sending your emails with marketing content from “marketing@companyX”, your prospects feel more like you are trying to educate them rather than sell to them—which will put them much more at ease and give them a reason to trust you. Sending emails this way also allows the prospect to educate themselves on your product or solution without feeling like they are obligated to talk to the salesperson later down the road.
Perception is Everything
Another good reason for having B2B marketing content come from your marketing team is with the nature of sales, whether you are doing it in-house or outsourcing it, you aren’t always going to have the same person doing exactly the same thing. For example, you may have someone start off in a cold calling role and then move up to a account management role.
Whenever you have shifts (from an HR perspective), you don’t want to have to keep rewriting emails to change addresses and signatures—making it appear that you are disorganized to your prospects by having emails constantly coming from different people. If all of your content comes from marketing, it makes you appear more organized even as you have people moving from role to role internally.
If you are a smaller company, this strategy can help make you appear larger than you are. You may not have a whole marketing department, but if you have emails coming from “marketing”, along with the right sales and marketing technologies in place to help with automation, no one ever knows that you don’t have 20-30 sales people behind you.
In summary, sending B2B marketing content from your “marketing team” or “marketing director” can help you appear to be less threatening and more organized. Ultimately, your customers will thank you in the form of repeat business if you allow them to dictate when they engage with the sales rep.
If you would like more information on B2B email marketing, click here. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Aug 23, 2013
In 2013, the world of sales belongs to the customer. Buyers now have control of the many aspects of the sales process and want to educate themselves for a large portion of the buying cycle. Best practices in sales are now focused on getting your customer the information they need, however they want it.
Here are 3 best practices in sales in 2013:
- Give your buyer everything they need to take themselves through their own education.
Todays buyer’s are much more independent than in the past and want to learn about products and services on their own. You therefore need to have everything buyers need to know about your product or service readily availably in an online format. Modern buyers love ease and transparency, so make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for. Use simple clear navigation on your homepage and make sure your value proposition is immediately clear.
2. Selling is only for the close. Offer value until then.
We generally like people who help us solve the problems we face. We generally hate salesmen. Apply this to your sales process by offering your prospects value in the form of informative blog posts, educational white papers and well-produced videos. If you are the one who has helped your prospects through the early stages of the sales process—discovery and education—then there is a good chance they will come back when they are ready to buy.
3. Get your customer to talk about you.
Recent industry reports are showing customer testimonials as one of the most effective marketing tactics today. You can get great feedback from customers by sending out short surveys or asking them personally. Showcase your positive feedback on your website and over social media. LinkedIn has an option on company pages to request recommendations from your customers.
For more best practices in sales in 2013 , click here. If you would like to know more about how the rules of selling and buying have changed and what to do to adapt, you can download our white paper called, “New Rules for Sales and Marketing in 2013”.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Aug 20, 2013
In today’s technology-driven world, your B2B marketing plan is mainly going to consist of digital content marketing and web content management. In this blog, we give a very basic overview for how to build a B2B marketing plan to improve lead generation and drive revenue.
The first part of your marketing plan is about research and development. You need to determine what market you are going after and create an idea customer profile. An idea customer profile contains information about the ideal demographics for your target customer; this can include things like region, title, industry, department, etc. Once you know who you are selling to, it is much easier to create marketing content for them.
The next part of your B2B marketing plan is actual content development itself. Using the information you know about your ideal customer profile, consider what information would be relevant or valuable to your target customer. You also need to create content that is designed specifically for each stage of the buying cycle. For example, early stage prospects need to be educated; late-stage buyers need to be convinced. By having different pieces of marketing content for each stage of the buying cycle, your prospects will feel like you understand their needs and begin to trust you.
The final stage of your B2B marketing plan is execution and refinement. With your content created, you can then push your messaging over blogs, your website and social media. With later-stage content, it is a good idea to keep it “gated” and require prospects to fill out a form with their contact information to get access. This way, you will know who your prospects are as they are nearing the close (with a marketing automation platform, you can track prospects from their first interaction on your website). Once your content is out there, you can use a variety of analytics to help you understand where have been successful and where you need improvement. You then make small adjustments over time by refining your messages or trying out different social networking or video hosting platforms.
If you would like more detailed content on B2B marketing plans, click here. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Aug 16, 2013
This blog is a short overview of the advantages your company can gain when outsourcing B2B sales.
For many B2B companies, selling is not as straightforward as it used to be. These companies are realizing that their sales and marketing tactics from ten years ago (telemarketing, tradeshows, etc.) are no longer as effective as they used to be.
In light of recent technological innovation and cultural evolution that has changed the buying and selling game for everyone, many B2B companies are turning to experts to help them transition into the digital marketing era. A sales and marketing outsourcing company can help you develop a clear sales process, execute marketing campaigns efficiently, and give you the metrics you need constantly refine your strategy.
Here are three advantages for outsourcing B2B sales:
- History of Experience
While your B2B company has expertise in the products or services you offer, a B2B sales outsourcing company has expertise in selling things. The world of selling is the water they’re swimming in, so they have been keeping track of all the new sales tactics and strategies that you’ve been ignoring while building your business. By hiring an outsourcing company for B2B sales, you get access to this experience and expertise.
- Marketing Automation Expertise
A new survey from MarketingProfs showed that 62% of marketers are now leveraging a marketing automation platform as a part of their sales strategy. For non-experts, marketing automation implementation is not an easy task, and it can be difficult to know if you are getting the most out of your investment. By outsourcing B2B sales, you get access to a sales outsourcing team that has gone through dozens of marketing automation implementations and knows the software in and out.
3. Measurable Results
One of the great things coming out of the recent technological innovations in marketing is the ability to measure results. Using a marketing automation platform and sales technologies (cold calling software programs, customer relationship management software, etc.), you can start to attach numbers and percentages to all of your B2B sales and marketing tactics—eventually giving you the ability to forecast your sales cycle with greater accuracy.
Overall, outsourcing B2B sales can add enormous value to your business with relatively little risk. Leveraging a B2B outsourcing sales company will give you the ability to act as an expert in the digital content marketing landscape and help drive revenue in ways you may not have even heard of yet.
We Can Help
Gabriel Sales was created and founded by Glen Springer in 2001 to accelerate sales and market growth for new products and services, and fill strategic gaps in companies’ sales and marketing operations. Gabriel Sales has continued evolve best practices with a focus on sales and marketing alignment. We integrate digital content and social media into every reps sales process to increase accountability and metric driven results.
Our team has a diverse experience and deep domain expertise selling software, hardware, professional services, analytics and media. Our core focus is taking products and sales efforts through multiple stages of maturity in their path from $0-$20M in annual revenue. We continue to be selective in our partnerships, ensuring that each client gets a dynamic, measurable plan to meet sales and growth projections.
If you would like more information on how selling and buying have changed and what you need to do to adapt, you can download our new white paper called, “New Rules for B2B Sales & Marketing in 2013”. If you have any questions, please feel free to check out our services page or contact us.
In the B2B sales world, marketing videos are becoming more and more popular as a B2B sales tactic.
